How to Create Retail Apps? Features and Characteristics

The mobile revolution has transformed the way retailers connect and interact with their customers and vice versa. Now, there is no need for print media to advertise offers and discounts when retail apps can efficiently get the job done. Retail businesses keep on evolving every single day.

Additionally, mobile applications have changed consumer buying behaviors. They now have become essential for both individuals and businesses, needless to say. 

The retail app development industry is growing like a weed. Consumers can not only compare reviews and prices, but they can instantly search for goods and services, all from the palm of their hands.

Retail apps offer accessibility, therefore, it has become nearly impossible to imagine an online business without a running website or an application for that matter—which is evident how important they are becoming. 

In case you want to read more about mobile apps, you can visit our blog category of mobile apps specifically tailored to your customer demand and industry trends.

Important Features of Retail Apps

Let's look at some of the important features of retail applications for both business and the consumer industry to develop retail apps: 

Quick Registration Process

The first thing users do when they download an application is register on the platform to easily access the application along with products - and also see their purchase history later. The reason the customer registration process should be one of a kind.

It should be simple and easy. Why? Because if your app lacks the very essence of ease and convenience in the registration process, chances are customer drop-off rates during the onboarding stage will increase.

Time-consuming and complex sign-up processes put customers off - asking too much information will make potential customers lose interest in your application. Find the tips below to improve your app registration process: 

• Only demand the essential and valuable information on registration because asking too much information will most definitely back-fire
• If your registration process is long, break it down into different sections or stages so that it doesn’t overwhelm the users 
• Automate the process - automatically take users to the next step, and once the registration process is complete, send a confirmation email
• Notify users about the error and success in case of both right and wrong information input
• Stay consistent throughout the process and maintain your tone and style

Secure Payment Gateways

The main idea of selling products and services through a mobile application is to make them more accessible to a wider set of audience. Hence, retail applications should offer secure, online, and multiple payment methods. With the advent of digital technologies, customers now prefer to pay online- and they want multiple options.

Moreover, offering various payment options makes your business more flexible and highly scalable. Let's look at some of the benefits of offering secure payment options:

• Frictionless payments lead to a better customer experience
• Multiple payment methods supporting different currencies help expand your business
• It reduces the drop-off rates at checkout and increases conversion rates
• It offers flexibility and freedom to pay for products in the customer’s preferred ways

Product Reviews & Ratings

More than half of customers buy things based on shoppers' reviews and product ratings. In short, reviews greatly impact the customer’s buying decisions. Through reviews and ratings, potential customers can have different perspectives about the experiences of the product, which leads to trust and enhances the overall impression.

Counterintuitively, negative reviews can make you lose your customers, but it all comes down to how you respond. But bad reviews are better than fake reviews. Also, if you have complete control over how you display your product reviews, always make sure to view critical reviews—it makes you look at your product just more authentic. 

• Make it easy for the customer to leave a review 
• You can also request a review through an email
• Respond to every review, either good or bad 
• Share good reviews on social media to build customer loyalty and trust 

Seamless Checkout Process

Just like your registration process, the checkout process should be no different, meaning it should be easy and simple, too. Have a one-step checkout process with as little information as possible.

Make customers save their address information so that they don’t have to add their address details every time they place an order. A one-step checkout process will enable customers to skim through the information as quickly as possible, ultimately leading to more sales.

It eliminates the frustration of multi-page checkout and with that, reduces cart abandonment. 

• Fewer mouse clicks lead to a hassle-free checkout 
• Multi-page checkout takes time to load whereas single-page checkout decreases the load time
• Decrease cart abandonment rates with one step checkout 
• It is more user-friendly and leads to better navigation and maximizes conversions

Personalized Push Notifications

Push notifications ensure more leads, especially when they are targeted. They alert users of ongoing, or upcoming deals and discounts, which enhances customer engagement rates.

Push notifications offer a faster, more effective way to scale up your sales and give your profits a boost.

Moreover, they are a powerful marketing tool to reach out and connect with your target market. They keep them updated about important information - as a result, helping you to drive more sales. 

Personalized Notification has a higher opt-in rate since they don't demand users to share their personal information to access them 

• Push notifications to expand your audience reach
• Enticing notifications can lead to higher customer engagement
• Messages that are worthy of attention can help you give your website traffic a boost
• They can help your potential customers turn into actual customers
• Seasonal discount notifications can lead to higher sales volume

Some Additional Features

• Wish-lists 
• Search functionality
• Sorting and filtering
• Product catalogs
• Location-based services 
• Easy navigation
• Simple and highly user-friendly 
  

Characteristics of Retail Applications

In this section, you will gain insight into the characteristics of Retail Apps. These characteristics will help you to develop a good retail application for your business.

Easy Navigation

A retail app must have easy navigation so that users can easily find what they are looking for. Navigation should be simple and intuitive, with clear labels and icons. The app should also have a search function so that users can quickly find the products they are looking for.

High-Quality Visuals and Images

When it comes to retail apps, high-quality visuals and images are essential. Nowadays it is so easy to generate photos or improve image quality with AI to catch the eyes of users for better performance. Your app should feature crisp, clear photos that accurately represent your products. In addition, your app should have a consistent look and feel across all screens. This means using the same colors, fonts, and overall design on every page.

Responsive Design

The app must be designed responsively in order to provide an optimal user experience across all devices. It should be easy to use and navigate, with a clean and simple interface. The app should be able to adapt to different screen sizes and resolutions, as well as different orientations (portrait or landscape).

Multiple Payment Options

In today's market, retail apps need to provide consumers with multiple payment options to stay competitive. Consumers should be able to choose from a variety of payment methods, including credit and debit cards, PayPal, and even cryptocurrency. By offering multiple payment options, retail apps can make the checkout process more convenient for consumers and increase their chances of closing a sale.

Loyalty and Rewards Programs

Loyalty and rewards programs are essential for any retail business looking to create a successful mobile app. By offering loyalty points or rewards for completing certain actions, businesses can encourage customers to keep coming back to their app. In addition, these programs can help businesses track customer behavior and preferences.

Benefits of Retail Applications

• Smartphone users are drastically increasing every day, which increases the demand for retail apps
• Helps you promote your brand and makes it highly visible in the market
• Retail apps help attract new customers and retain the existing ones through loyalty programs and premium sale support
• You can seamlessly demonstrate and display your products to your target audience, making them more accessible 
• Higher accessibility leads to higher customer satisfaction and great experience
• Apps load much faster than websites 
• Customers can instantly get in touch with you in case of queries
• You can easily identify customer insights and behaviors through stats and analytics
• Retail apps can help you deliver a personalized customer experience based on their buying and search behavior
• You can easily track and monitor customer’s feedback 

Final Takeaways

Keeping everything in mind, a successful app should provide a personalized customer experience and respond to customers queries with the best service. But developing an app with all the advanced features is not a piece of cake—you need a full team of developers who are highly efficient at what they do. 

InvoZone has all that you need to develop a retail app for your business. Our extensive expertise is what sets us apart from others in the industry. We are ready to provide you with the best solution, are you?

Frequently Asked Questions 

What is a retail app?

A retail app is a mobile application designed to facilitate shopping for customers. The main purpose of a retail app is to provide customers with an easy and convenient way to browse products, make purchases, and manage their accounts.

How much does it cost to make a retail app?

The cost of making a retail app can vary widely depending on various factors such as the complexity of the app, features and functionality required, platforms targeted, development team location, and development time, among others.

For a basic retail app, the cost may start from $10,000 to $32,000. However, a more complex app with advanced features such as integrations with other systems, complex back-end infrastructure, and custom design could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or even more.

What is the importance of retail apps?

Retail apps are important because they provide a convenient and accessible way for customers to browse and purchase products or services from their mobile devices. They also allow retailers to gather valuable data about customer behavior and preferences, which can be used to improve their business strategies.